Today, videos are on a huge spike in the digital world. This, we already know. The question is, how do you hook the attention of your viewers in just 10, if not 5 seconds?

According to scientists, humans are now falling behind goldfish when it comes to attention span. The rise of smartphones has left humans with an average attention span of just 8 seconds. Goldfish, meanwhile, are believed to have an attention span of 9 seconds! This means that the ability of customers to view and close your videos can happen in a just a swipe and tap. So, if you weren’t able to capture your potential customer’s attention in less than 8 seconds, it’s likely that your video will get lost in the digital noise online.

Here are 3 strategies to make sure you’re targeting the bull’s eye in catching and retaining viewers’ attention:

1. Get Straight to the Point

Once the user hits play, your video must grab and engage instantaneously or it won’t survive in the hostile frontier of the internet. The easiest way to increase watch time and keep your viewers watching is to deliver your message quickly and effectively. If you want to deliver a message to your viewers, it’s best to put it in one of the first frames. It’s also crucial to engage your viewers by showing your personality on the videos, making it seem as if you’re having a simple, friendly conversation with them. Pair this strategy with a solid storytelling content and you can instantly connect to your target audience.

2. Break the Fourth Wall

What if there was a way to significantly increase your video views by just saying one word? Well, as it turns out, it’s possible. The word “You” is a little word with great power. A Recent study about Youtube videos explain that saying the word “you” in the first 5 seconds of videos, can double viewership and increase retention rate. Other variations such as “your”, “yourselves” and “y’all” also increase the overall views by 66%. What’s more amazing is that when you mention the word “you” twice in a video, views can increase by 97%. The takeaway here is that personalization is key.

3. Stand Out with VisualsKnowing that your audience is easily bored and easily distracted, you need to make sure your video starts strong with a moving segment. People’s eyes are drawn to moving, changing images. Once you have grabbed the viewers’ attention, keep the momentum by having a creative, nice rhythm and pace with your videos. This can be done through the beat of the music, voiceovers or text. Keep punching with different visual elements and leave a lasting impression that makes your viewers wanting for more! Take a look at how we successfully applied this through our Motionstory animation.

Your video can either keep your viewers yawning or watching. Of course, the target is to create the latter which is having an impressive video that hooks your viewers and engages them with your story. Great videos don’t just keep viewers' attention, they also prompt responses and actions, either through commenting, sharing or even signing up for your product. Above all, focus on your target market and respond with the kind of video content they crave for.